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THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS
Copyright © 2006 Trumpet Ministries, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
Several important areas of study are included in the Book of Ephesians. One emphasis is that of building up the members of the one new Man to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Paul’s customary exhortations to a holy, blameless life are included, with the remark that it is to this transformation of personality that we have been chosen in Christ before the creation of the world.
Paul’s customary exhortations to a holy, blameless life are included, with the remark that it is to this transformation of personality that we have been chosen in Christ before the creation of the world.
Table of Contents
THE BOOK OF EPHESIANS
Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:13)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 1:1)
As nearly as I can tell, the role of the apostle is to establish doctrine, whereas the prophet speaks the immediate burden of the Spirit and affirms the teaching of the apostle.
Perhaps the reason Paul emphasized his apostleship was that he was not one of the original Twelve who had been with Jesus. It may be that people questioned his authority because of this.
It also is true that the apostle is not sent by men but by the Lord. In this way the Church always has a fresh Word from Christ Himself.
Notice that Paul never wrote to "Christians." He addressed the saints, the holy ones. I don’t know about you, but in my mind the term "saint" is stronger than "Christian." The word "Christian" today is applied to people who may be members of the Christian religion but are not "holy ones" by any means. They may know their denomination but in many instances they do not know the Lord.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:2)
We often think of grace only as "forgiveness." But I don’t think Paul was saying "Forgiveness and peace to you." Do you? I define grace as the Presence of God in Christ bringing to us all we need to accomplish God’s will in our life. Does that definition fit here?
"May the Presence of God in Christ bringing to us all we need to accomplish God’s will in our life be to you, along with peace."
Does that sound reasonable? The reason I am emphasizing this point is that we are using "grace" today to mean only God’s perpetual forgiving and overlooking of our behavior. From my point of view the current definition is unscriptural and destructive.
The Christian salvation includes infinitely more than the forgiveness of our sins. It is true that forgiveness is a part of redemption and is included in our salvation. But if this were all there were to salvation, if there were no forming of new righteous people, then all would be lost. There would be nothing to look forward to in the new world other than the familiar pain and dread produced by sinful people.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)
Under the old covenant, obedience to the Law of Moses resulted in material prosperity. Under the new covenant, obedience to the Holy Spirit may or may not result in material prosperity. But obedience to the Spirit always produces spiritual prosperity.
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. (Ephesians 1:4)
There are two concepts here: the concept of Divine election and the concept of the goal of the Divine election. Neither is being emphasized in our day, it seems to me.
First of all, our American ideal of everyone being created equal, having equal access to the pursuit of happiness (although this is not true even in the physical world), does not agree with the idea that God chooses some people to be closer to Himself than is true of others. The fact remains, however, that the Kingdom of God is made up of various ranks of holiness as determined by the Lord.
In spite of our American ideal, the only time at which any individual can find perfect fulfillment and joy is when he finds himself in that place in the Kingdom assigned to him or her. God has a role in mind for us and He forms us so we will be able to fulfill that role completely and perfectly.
Second, what is the goal of Divine election? It is not primarily to be saved from wrath, although salvation from wrath is included.
The goal of the election of the members of the royal priesthood is that each one be holy and blameless in God’s sight. This does not mean holy by imputation or blameless by imputation but actually holy and actually blameless.
We need today to move away from the unscriptural overemphasis on imputation. Imputation, righteousness ascribed to us but not actually true of us, is necessary when we first receive Christ. Otherwise how could God receive us? But to carry imputation beyond our initial receiving of Christ is to defeat God’s intention under the new covenant.
A kingdom in which the members were still bound in their adamic nature would be little different from what is true of us today. There would continue to be every distressing situation imaginable, including wars and rumors of wars. God’s will is not being done in such a kingdom, and were it to come to earth we would be no better off than we are today.
The current teaching is unscriptural to a great extent. By seizing upon and misunderstanding Chapters Three through Five of the Book of Romans, insisting that there is nothing we are to do be saved other than to make a profession of belief in Jesus Christ, the remainder of the New Testament has been rendered invalid. It is a masterpiece of satanic deception.
It is time now for the Church to arise and put on her beautiful garments, so to speak. The garments are not those of imputed righteousness but of the actual righteous actions of the saints.
Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear. (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) (Revelation 19:7,8)
The bride makes herself ready by confessing and turning away from her sins. This is how she washes her garments in the blood of the Lamb.
In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—To the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. (Ephesians 1:5,6)
Has God predestined everyone to be adopted as His son? No. The term "church" means "called out." The Church consists of people who have been called out from the world in order to serve as a governing priesthood. They will be the rulers of the new world of righteousness. There shall be multitudes of people who are saved but who are not members of God’s royal priesthood.
God predestined us in love. All of God’s works are done in love, more so than we often realize. We tend to think theologically while God is moved by His great love.
God acts according to His own pleasure and will. This is the meaning of being saved by grace. God did not call us out from the world because we kept the Law of Moses better than most, or because of some other virtue of our personality. He chose us in Christ Jesus from the beginning of the world purely according to His own pleasure and will. We of the Church indeed are a chosen generation.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace That he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. (Ephesians 1:7,8)
What an unanticipated act of redemption the blood of the cross is! Could anyone have gleaned from the Prophets that God would use His Son as a Sin-offering?
Let’s see if our definition fits "grace" as used above.
"The forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s Presence in Christ bringing to us all we need to accomplish God’s will in our life." That makes sense to me. The "God’s riches at Christ’s expense" definition sounds incomplete and self-centered to me! Also, to define "grace" as "unmerited favor" certainly cannot be confined to the new covenant. Everything God has done for us from the beginning of the world—in fact, the creation of the world itself—is unmerited favor.
Under the Law of Moses, atonement was made for sin by using the blood of animals. This atonement brought forgiveness but it left the worshiper with a sinful nature. The sinful nature would insure that it would not be long before he sinned again. You can imagine the consternation this would bring to a conscientious Jew.
The Day of Atonement was celebrated every year in recognition of the fact that the Israelites would continue to sin.
Christ came and made an eternal atonement through His blood. He will not be offered again. The atonement was made for the whole world.
Has everyone been forgiven? No, only those who come to God in faith, believing atonement has been made for their past sins.
What about the future sins of the Christian? It is presumed that he will count himself crucified with Christ such that his old life is over.
When the believer counts that his old life is over and he now is living in Christ, the Holy Spirit begins to show him the areas of darkness in his personality. He is to confess these to God as sin and then, through the help of the Spirit, turn away from them. As he does this, the atoning blood continues to forgive the areas of darkness remaining in his personality.
There was no provision under the old covenant nor is there under the new for willful, presumptuous sin. If a Christian who is not deceived or overcome with passion knows an action is sinful then goes ahead and sins in willful defiance, there is no forgiveness for this act. He has behaved arrogantly toward God and has despised the blood of the cross. He is in danger of the fire.
The atonement was made on the cross for all time. It shall not be repeated. This means the emphasis has switched from the need for an atonement, to spiritual warfare. The price for our deliverance has been paid in full, but Satan will not let us go. He is not honorable in this respect. So he must be crushed and driven from the earth by force.
Sin as a subject for study and preaching, and its relationship to the Christian believer, has been greatly misunderstood, I believe. We are under the impression once an individual has claimed Christ as his Savior, sin ceases to become an issue. The hastiest review of the New Testament will reveal that such is not the case.
After we receive Christ and are baptized in water we have a choice. We can choose to serve sin, or we can choose to serve righteousness. If we choose to serve sin we will die spiritually, even though we profess belief in Christ.
It is a fact that a Christian, having been forgiven his previous sins, still has a sinful nature. If he chooses to serve righteousness he increases in holiness. This is how he acquires more eternal life.
When we are saved we are given a portion of eternal life. We can choose to serve righteousness and receive increased eternal life. Or we can choose to serve sin and lose the eternal life we were given initially. We see then that while eternal life is the gift of God, it is not something that is just handed to us. It is more the gift of an opportunity to receive life initially; whether we grow in eternal life is our choice.
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (Romans 6:22)
Eternal life is the result of actions both God and we have taken.
And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, (Ephesians 1:9)
The Old Testament, by examples and by prophetic utterances, speaks of Christ who was to come. But the death of Christ on the cross; the fact that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; the born-again experience in which the Word of God is written on our mind and heart; the outpouring of the Holy SpiritBall these and other aspects of redemption can be detected in the Old Testament. But how God would administer His grace remained a mystery.
The truth is, the Gospel of the Kingdom is a mystery to the present hour. The fact that Christ is the Chief Cornerstone in the Father’s House and that there are other living stones is not presented clearly in numerous churches at this time.
But I think the mystery of Christ will be revealed in our day.
To be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillmentBto bring all things in heaven and earth together under one head, even Christ. (Ephesians 1:10)
The expression "when the times will have reached their fulfillment" tells us that God is working on schedule and is in control of everyone and everything. We need to understand this fact thoroughly because of the age of physical and moral horrors we are entering. When we see the evil we will fret and perhaps panic, and thus be torn down from our high place in God.
When the passage above remarks that all things in Heaven and earth shall be brought together under Christ, I believe it is referring the creatures in Heaven as well as the creatures on the earth.
We know in the beginning God through Christ created the various angels, archangels, cherubim, seraphim, and whatever heavenly creatures there are.
Then God through Christ created the physical world with its people, animals, and plants. My personal belief is that the both the spiritual and the physical creatures died on the cross, so to speak. The entire first creation, the spiritual dimension and the physical dimension, came to an end on the cross of Calvary.
When the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead He was the beginning of a new creation. Christ is Head over all creatures in the heavens as well as on the earth. God is summing up all things in Christ. We can expect to see the Lord Jesus Christ reflected and revealed in all areas of the creation.
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, (Ephesians 1:11)
Notice so far the emphasis on predestination. Paul has taught us clearly that the world is in God’s control. God gave the Lord Jesus authority over all mankind. From the mass of mankind God brings to Christ people who originally belonged to God. God gives them to Christ that Christ might give them eternal life.
Christ does not pray for the world but for those whom God has given Him. No one can come to Christ unless the Father draws that individual. Then Christ chooses that individual as a member of the royal priesthood, of the eternal house of God.
We may think we choose Christ, but the truth is, Christ chooses us.
Then we have to increase in virtue in order to make our calling and election certain. We have to be careful that no one takes our crown. We have to put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand in the evil day. We have to be careful to abide in Christ so the fruit the Father desires from the royal priesthood, which is the image of Christ in us, may be borne.
The royal priesthood is Israel, beginning with Abraham the father of all members of the one Seed. The members of Israel are always designated by the calling of God, never by physical birth.
Until we are fully able to grasp the sovereignty of God in the world we cannot understand the Bible. It may not seem fair to us Americans that God makes one vessel to honor and another to dishonor. We are not comfortable with the fact that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Our hearts are proud and rebellious. We are not always willing to permit God to be God.
We do not know enough about people or the creation to judge whether or not God is fair and righteous. We can trust that God is fair and righteous, or we can assert that He isn’t. It doesn’t matter. It simply does not matter. God works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will.
In spite of the fact that God is God and He will do what He chooses to do, I believe there always is a window of opportunity for anyone who wants to seek God, regardless of his or her assigned destiny. He or she can plunge through and gain the Divine blessing, like the Syrophoenician woman. The Lord told us there will be many children of the Kingdom standing on the outside while the tax collectors and prostitutes sweep past them on their way to the King’s table.
In order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:12)
First came Christ. Then the Apostles. After the Apostles will march the rest of the victorious saints. After the victorious saints will be God’s elect who did not attain to the ranks of the firstfruits. Finally every saved member of the nations will partake of the Spirit of God.
The victorious saints will demonstrate in themselves the victory of Christ. Through them God will be able to show the lords of the heavenlies, both the righteous and the wicked, the wisdom of God in selecting people and giving them to Christ.
Those who through Christ have overcome the evil forces in the world will continually offer praise to God, throwing down their crowns before the Throne. There has been through the centuries triumphant worship ascending to God as a holy incense; and this praise shall increase until Heaven and earth scarcely will be able to contain the glory and splendor of it all.
Thus Jesus Christ shall see the travail of His soul and be satisfied.
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13,14)
We who believe have been marked with a seal. What we Christians have now is a deposit on our salvation. Our salvation is the making alive of our dead, sinful body by the power of the Holy Spirit.
At some point in the early history of the Church, I suppose, we lost sight of the goal of salvation. The goal of salvation is the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth, and the resurrection of our bodies so we can live once again on the earth.
Because of various pressures, the goal changed into eternal residence in Heaven. Then we invented a mythological concept of Heaven, until Heaven became in our mind a sort of wonderland. We included mansions, streets of gold, harps, and golden slippers.
Now that we are approaching the end of the Church Age we can see that the Gospel has to do with the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth. This is the Day of Redemption, of Salvation, we are hoping for.
Especially important is the making alive of our mortal body. Since the making alive of our mortal body marks the destruction of the last enemy, which is physical death, the other enemies have to be overcome first.
The enemies, other than physical death, are our love and trust in the world spirit; the sinful nature that dwells in our flesh; and our self will. Until these have been overcome, we cannot eat of the Tree of Life and gain immortality in the body.
Now that we have been apprised of the true goal of salvation, and of forces that would prevent us from attaining the true goal, we understand the necessity for deliverance from the spirit of the world, from our lusts and passions, and from our self-will.
Many of us are hoping for a massive revival. In our minds we picture a great move of the Holy Spirit among hundreds of thousands of people so multitudes receive Christ, are baptized with the Holy Spirit, and healed of their various afflictions. May God grant such a gracious intervention.
But I wonder if the true and lasting revival will not be one in which Christians are convicted of their sins, turn away from them, take up their cross, and follow Christ.
The gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit have been given to the Body of Christ so each member might grow to maturity as measured by the stature of the fullness of Christ. It is time now for the Christian leaders to turn their attention toward the maturing of the people already in the churches.
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. (Ephesians 1:15,16)
Because Paul had heard of their genuine conversion to Christ, including their receiving the Holy Spirit, he was praying for them. Perhaps we do not pray enough for people after they have professed faith in Christ and have been filled with the Holy Spirit. We regard them as being safe in the camp, and now we look to see if there are others who need to be saved and filled with the Spirit.
This was not what Paul did. Paul understood that faith in Christ and being filled with the Spirit of God were not the fullness of salvation but only the merest beginning. We need to gain this understanding in our day, because the churches do not always address the need for the growth of the believers. Yet the gifts and ministries were given to produce growth to maturity.
I expect this blindness is coming from Satan, who is not afraid of a church filled with spiritual babies. It is when the believers press forward to maturity in Christ that Satan’s kingdom is in jeopardy.
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so you may know him better. (Ephesians 1:17)
There literally are hundreds of excellent commentaries of every description. The ability of the various Bible scholars is unquestionable. The Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages have been investigated exhaustively. The bones of the Scriptures have been picked over until they are gleaming white.
But I have noticed that such excellent exegeses do not always yield truth, although they can be helpful when one is studying the Scriptures. How can we have all this scholarly material and not notice the errors of our day? How can we view the new covenant as one that does not regard our behavior as critical to our salvation? How can we keep on viewing the goal of salvation as eternal residence in Heaven when there is not a shred of Biblical support for such a notion?
The answer is, the writers of the Bible were not scholars. They did not write in a scholarly fashion. Jeremiah did not use Isaiah in his footnotes. John did not refer to Paul in his footnotes. Paul was a scholar, but he wrote by revelation and inspiration.
The Scriptures were written as holy men were moved by the Spirit of God. The Scriptures can be interpreted only as holy men are moved by the Spirit of God.
The only way we can know Christ is by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. When we are obeying the Lord, living a holy life, and asking the Lord for understanding of the Scriptures, we receive truthBtruth that will not be grasped by the most gifted commentator. The Bible is a spiritual book, and it is sealed until someone meets God’s requirements.
The fact that the Scripture are sealed can be frustrating to someone who is determined to master the Bible languages and the available commentaries, and then write a new commentary on some book of the Bible. Unless the Holy Spirit helps us, we will not add new knowledge that God’s people can use.
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, (Ephesians 1:18)
Remember, the saints at Ephesus had been saved and sealed with God’s Spirit. Yet Paul is praying that they may know the hope to which they have been called, the extent of the riches of God’s inheritance in the saints.
Would we pray this kind of prayer for a person who already has been "saved," as we use the term? Would we not assume they understood their hope?
As far as God’s inheritance in the saints is concerned, what is it? Do we understand even today that God has an inheritance in the saints? If so, exactly what is it? Is it not that God will have a living Temple through which He can bless and guide His creatures? Is it not that each stone of this living Temple will continually be offering praise and adoration to God? Is it not that God will have sons; that Jesus Christ will have brothers; that the Lamb will have a wife; that there will be an army of warriors and judges who will drive sin from the creation?
There is so much more of which we are unaware. We need to pray that all of us will be filled with the Spirit of wisdom and understanding; that we will be fully conscious of the scope of God’s inheritance in the saints.
And his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, Which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, Far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. (Ephesians 1:19-21)
Paul is praying that each one of us who believe will become knowledgeable concerning the power, the mighty strength, that is directed toward us. The power that is directed toward us is the same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms
That power placed Jesus Christ far above every other authority, especially above all the lords of darkness—those of whom Daniel writes who resist the godly angels. We know little about the struggle that goes on in the spirit realm; but we do know Christ has been placed far above all angelic powers, both righteous and wicked.
There are various thrones in the spirit realm. High, high above them all is the supreme Throne. On that Throne sits a man with the scars of nails in His hands and feet. God has placed Him there, and there is no wicked lord of darkness who can threaten His supreme authority--now or in the future.
That same power that lifted Christ to the highest Throne is working toward us who have placed our faith in Christ.
And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, Which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (Ephesians 1:22,23)
Jesus Christ is head over all authorities and powers, including the Church.
The next statement, "which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way," bears a lot of thought.
This means the members of the Church are an integral part of Christ. They are His fullness.
We have been saved. We have been filled with the Spirit. The next aspect of redemption for us is to become one with Jesus Christ.
Becoming one with Christ entails complete reconciliation to Christ in every aspect of our personality.
Our consecration to God must be absolute. There can be no point of wavering.
We must be set free from the love of the world, our bodily lusts, and particularly our self-will. Freedom from self-will often requires various imprisonments and fiery trials for a season while our personal ambition, youthful enthusiasms, goals, and motives are burned out of us. We must enter quiet, untroubled rest in God’s Person and will.
Christ must be formed in us. Christ is formed in us through many avenues and devices, including the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit; our response to pains and problems; our daily prayer and Bible reading.
We must learn to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in every aspect of our life, looking continually to the Lord Jesus for wisdom and strength for all our decisions and undertakings.
We must be filled with all the fullness of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Total oneness with Christ is required if we are to express Christ throughout His creation. We must be one with Christ, living by His body and blood as He lives by the Father. We are speaking here of the Oneness that exists between the Father and the Son. We are to become an integral part of that Oneness.
There is one supreme God—the Father.
Out from the Father has proceeded the Word. The Father has made the Word our Savior, Lord, Anointed Deliverer, and His Son. The Father and His Son are absolutely One in Substance and Spirit.
We are being made an integral part of the Oneness. We are being transformed by the manifold workings of God. We are being brought into untroubled rest in God. We are filled with the Spirit of God. Our inward nature has been born of God. We are learning to live by the body and blood of the Lamb of God. We are to be filled with all the fullness of God. The eternal moral law of God is being written on our mind and heart. In the Day of Resurrection our outward nature, our body, will be adopted by God as it is raised from the dead and made alive by the Spirit of Christ.
Christ represents and reveals the Father. We are to represent and reveal Christ. When the Father has brought every rebelling, contrary spirit under the feet of Christ, then Christ will be subject to the Father that the Father may be All in all throughout the creation.
In order to be made perfect in this Oneness we have to surrender our right to be an individual person independent of God and Christ. We never lose our uniqueness, however. But as Christ is part of God and not an independent person, so we must be willing to be part of Christ and God and not an independent person. We remain a unique person, but not an independent person. Such also is true of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Whoever insists on remaining an independent person continues as a will other than the will of God. A will other than the will of God always brings chaos in the universe. Therefore whoever insists on maintaining his or her own will is looking forward to being a wandering star, a god separate from the one true God.
To become part of God rather than an independent will is a choice we have to make at some point. The sooner we choose to accept God’s will as supreme, the sooner we find security, fulfillment, and rest.
The question of the will may be the major decision facing God’s people at this time.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, In which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. (Ephesians 2:1,2)
This passage also bears thought.
The standard set for believers is that they no longer practice transgressions and sins. They used to live this way but they do not any longer. I think the implication is that if they do continue to live as they did prior to professing belief in Christ, they still are dead. This would agree with Paul’s statements in the Book of Romans that if we as a Christian continue to practice sin we will kill our spiritual life.
Since it is taught so plainly by the Apostle Paul that a Christian who persists in sinful behavior will reap spiritual death now and corruption in the Day of Resurrection, it is a marvel to me that this scriptural truth is not emphasized more than it is. If it were stressed I think there would be a moral revolution in the churches.
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. (Ephesians 2:3)
Isn’t Paul saying here that if we gratify the cravings of our sinful nature, following its desires and thoughts, we are by our nature objects of Divine wrath?
I think we have made salvation something that it isn’t. Our teaching today seems to be that professing belief in Jesus Christ means we no longer are objects of Divine wrath regardless of whether or not we continue to obey our sinful nature. And we have derived this wretched doctrine by wresting the writings of the Apostle Paul!
Yet the implication in the above verse is that as a Christian we no longer are gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature.
"But," we may protest, "even though we gratify the cravings of our sinful nature we will be saved anyway by grace."
Can we be the objects of Divine wrath and still be saved? I believe we Christians are following a deluding spirit. Whoever continues to live in the sinful nature is no friend of God!
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, Made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 3:4,5)
When we still were living in our sinful nature, blinded by the god of this world, God brought us to Jesus Christ. We were spiritually dead, and now we have eaten of the Tree of Life and are alive.
When Paul speaks of "grace" he means our being brought to Christ was not earned by us. God did not look down to see who had earned salvation by adhering to the Law of Moses or to any other moral code. Rather God selected us according to His own inscrutable will and pleasure and opened our eyes so we could see the slain Lamb on the cross.
Therefore we cannot boast about our own goodness.
And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, (Ephesians 2:6)
This is true of us now. We already have been raised and seated with Christ. We are on the highest throne, our sins having been forgiven.
Now our task is to stand. It is to prevent anyone from taking our crown of life.
So many forces seek to tear us down from our high place in God! If we are not careful to follow the Lord each day, we may discover there are relationships, things, or circumstances that are getting between us and the Lord. This is a dangerous situation.
Fear can tear us down. Lust can tear us down. Worrying about the cares and responsibilities of life in the world can tear us down. Unforgiveness and bitterness can tear us down.
There is no authority or power great enough to separate us from God’s love in Christ. But we can be seduced. Satan’s actual authority and power were destroyed on the cross. But Satan is an exceedingly skillful deceiver.
Sometimes Christians are under the impression they cannot be deceived. They are mistaken. They have underrated their enemy.
For example, there is considerable deception in today’s Christian preaching and teaching. The idea being that if Christians sin, God sees them only through Christ. They are perpetually, unconditionally forgiven from now to eternity. This is a gross deception and has destroyed the moral strength of the Christian churches.
The concept of a "rapture" that will remove us from the earth before we suffer is a deception. And there are many others.
We can be deceived personally, thinking we are serving God when we are not. On some occasions it is God Himself who has deluded us because we did not love His truth.
Can God keep us at His right hand in Christ? Absolutely!
Can we lose our crown, our place in Christ, if we do not live as a disciple? Absolutely.
Living as a disciple means we have denied ourselves and are carrying our cross behind Jesus each day. It is our personal cross that keeps us from being deceived. It is when believers try to avoid suffering, avoid that which is unpleasant, refuse to remain in unpleasant situations, that they open themselves to deception.
When we truly receive Christ we are completely forgiven and lifted to the highest throne of all. But then we have to put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand in the evil day; in the day when our position in Christ is threatened through fear, unbelief, lust, ambition, or any other force or idol that attacks us.
This present world is a battleground filled with opposing forces. To forget that, to try to live as an average American, planning our retirement so we can eat, drink, and have fun is to invite destruction. Our fellow saints in the world are battling for their very survival. And we are having our backyard barbecues and planning our carefree trips across the country! God will never accept this. Without doubt we will lose our crown unless we come to ourselves and get right with God.
In order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:7)
We who remain true to the Lord have a great hope for the future! That hope is as a joy that is set before us and helps us bear our cross patiently.
The term "grace" in the passage above, "the incomparable riches of his grace," is not referring to forgiveness.
I have heard it taught that God will be forgiving us forever because we can never please Him. We are sinful and shall continue to be sinful, but God will shower us with forgiveness.
That is not sound teaching. Do we not realize sin is a problem with relationships? If people continue to sin they will be harming one another. How can we enjoy Paradise if we are injuring each other?
The incomparable riches of God’s grace is not referring to an eternal process of forgiveness, but to the joy and glory that shall be assigned to those who through the Lord Jesus Christ gain victory over sin. It is the overcomer, not the loser, who inherits all things.
The conquerors have been forgiven and also delivered. Therefore they are trees of life to those around them, not sources of pain and confusion as is true of all who persist in living in the sinful nature.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—Not by works, so no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8,9)
This verse was given to me when I first became a Christian. I would imagine that numerous people have been brought to the Lord by this text.
I was told, and believed for years, that the meaning is: you are a sinner; you cannot save yourself; if you place your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ you will go to Heaven when you die; this is God’s gift to you, it has nothing to do with your righteousness or lack of it. Since your salvation is a gift of God, you have no occasion to boast.
All of this is true. The problem is, it leaves the believer with the idea there is nothing he is to do for the rest of his life except believe Christ has saved him. The good fight of faith is the fight to keep on believing what he has been taught, it is taught..
There are many fine Christians who believe this way. They read their Bible each day. They pray each day. They support their local church. Some of them go as missionaries or engage in other types of Christian work. But they do not see these worthy practices as being related to their salvation. They are saved by forgiveness (grace), and by forgiveness alone. They ought to try to do good, but if they do not they will still go to Heaven because they have been forgiven.
If they are tempted severely enough they may fall because of their belief that their salvation (eternal residence in Heaven) cannot be affected by their behavior. Sometimes their self-will causes harm to their fellow Christians. They may be filled with the Spirit and speak in tongues. They may, at the same time, slander their brothers and sisters in the Lord and cause much bitterness.
Let us change the definition of salvation. Let us agree that salvation is of the Lord. We cannot earn it. It has been given to us by the Lord. But suppose for a moment that to be saved is not only to be qualified to enter Heaven when we die, but also to be changed from an adamic soul into a new creation in Jesus Christ. Now the good fight of faith changes from persisting in our belief that Christ has forgiven us and we are on our way to Heaven, to overcoming each day the forces of the enemy that would seek to keep us in bondage to the spirit of the world; to keep us gratifying the appetites and lusts of our sinful nature; to keep us clinging to our self-will instead of learning to obey God’s will instead of our own.
Then it still is true that we have been saved by grace through faith. It still is true that our faith is the gift of God. And it still is true that we are not saving ourselves by following a moral code, such as the Law of Moses.
The first interpretation tends to be static. You will find faithful people in churches who have not grown spiritually over a period of forty years. They still are basically the same person as when they began to believe in Christ.
The second interpretation is intensely dynamic. It seems just about every day there is a part of our personality that dies in Christ and is born again, shall we say. We actually are becoming a new righteous creation in Christ.
So if we view Ephesians 2:8,9 as a gift of forgiveness with a view to going to Heaven, as I was taught at the onset of my salvation experience, we probably will not grow past the Pentecostal experience. The truth is, being forgiven through the blood atonement, and being baptized with the Holy Spirit, are the tools that we need to press into the program of salvation, not the salvation itself. The program of salvation consists of a daily putting to death of our first personality with the consequent emergence of a new Christ-filled personality.
Now, why do so many passages of the Epistles stress righteous behavior? The reason is, if we are to keep on passing from death to life we have to keep on putting to death the deeds of our sinful nature. We have to be reminded of this continually; otherwise we take our eyes off Jesus and begin to drift along in our comfortable religion.
If we say we have to do the works commanded in the New Testament in order to please God, immediately we are accused of preaching works; of seeking to earn our salvation. It is not that we are seeking to earn our salvation by working for it. It is, rather, that we are endeavoring to keep up with the program the Holy Spirit is bringing us through.
The program of the Holy Spirit does not consist solely of maintaining theological truth. The program is a daily pressing into Christ that we might attain to the resurrection from the dead, as the Apostle Paul taught us.
We have to "save ourselves" by living righteously, as Paul wrote to Timothy. We have to be laying aside all else, as the Spirit leads, so we may gain Christ. This is a radically different approach to salvation than that of maintaining continually that we are saved by grace.
In fact we are saved by grace, but it is the grace of chastenings that keep pressing us into the Lord Jesus. Very often the grace is a cross that keeps us praying night and day that we might maintain our peace and joy in the Lord.
We indeed are saved through grace, and our salvation is not something we earn or put together. But that grace includes many dealing of the Lord that are designed to put to death our own adamic nature and bring forth the new Christ nature. And we have to have faith if we are to continue in the program of redemption, because it can be quite challenging.
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)
God is creating us in Christ that we might do good works. This reminds us that we are to let our light shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify God.
To my way of thinking, the good works we are to do consist of what we might term righteous deeds. The showing of kindness, for example. Being honest with other people. Telling the truth. Being a peacemaker. Forgiving those who harm us. Living a clean moral life. This is the true Christian testimony, and it often is more effective than the preaching of the Gospel.
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (I Peter 2:12)
We instruct the believers to "go out and tell others about Jesus." This may be fruitful on some occasions. But Christian people do not always have a good reputation in the world. We may talk about our religion, but then we do not show kindness, honesty, truthfulness, forgiveness, and moral purity. God would rather have us show these virtues than preach about our religion.
The New Testament does not advise us to tell everyone about Jesus. It commands us to live good lives. If all the Christians in America lived good lives, the worldly people would glorify God. That is what the Bible teaches.
Religious people usually place teaching about their religion as a higher priority than living a good life. In this they are not in agreement with the Lord.
God prepared our good works in advance. How far back does the preparation go? Back to the beginning of the creation. It was at that time God called you to be a royal priest. It was at that time God prepared kindness, gentleness, and honesty. He knew in advance that these virtues would be important in our day. So He prepared them. Then He brought us into the world that we might practice them and thus cause the pagans to glorify God.
Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body by the hands of men)—(Ephesians 2:11)
Next the Apostle Paul is going to discuss our relationship as Gentiles to people who are Jewish by birth. There is much confusion over this relationship to the present day.
Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:12)
One of the destructive teachings of our day is that there is a "Gentile Church." There is no Gentile Church. There is only the one Church. Until we are included as part of Israel, the one Church, we are separate from Christ and foreigners to the covenants of the promise. When we truly are part of the Lord Jesus Christ we are part of Israel. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is Israel, according to the strictest interpretation of the term. He is the one Seed of Abraham.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:13)
To what have we been brought near? We have been brought near to citizenship in spiritual Israel; to the covenants of promise; to hope; to God.
Can you see that God did not authorize a Gentile Church? Rather, the Gentile who would answer God’s call in Christ must draw near to the one true Olive Tree.
The blood of Christ has made it possible for us Gentiles to draw near to the one true royal priesthood of God. Originally the royal priesthood consisted only of physical Jews. Since the resurrection of Christ, the royal priesthood consists of a remnant who are both Jews and Gentiles by physical birth. After the full number of Gentiles have been added to the one Olive Tree, the Lord will turn again to the physical land and people of Israel and all Israel will be saved. The Deliverer shall come from Zion and remove the sins of the Israelis.
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, (Ephesians 2:14)
Because God chose the Israelites as a holy nation, there has been a dividing wall of hostility between the Israelites and the Gentiles. But now we share the one Sin-offering—Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. This makes Jews and Gentiles one people in a manner not possible by any other means
By abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, (Ephesians 2:15)
It is the Law of Moses with its commandments and regulations that is the wall that divides the Jews and the Gentiles. The Apostle Paul states that Christ abolished in His flesh the wall, the Law of Moses.
How did Christ do this? Christ abolished the Law of Moses in His flesh by keeping the Law perfectly, and then permitting Himself to be nailed to the cross. From God’s point of view, because Christ had kept the Law perfectly, and then suffered the penalty for breaking the Law, the law was effectively abolished. I do not fully understand why Christ’s crucifixion abolished the Law, except that Christ completely fulfilled the Law, and then was crucified.
It may be that since Christ kept the Law, and then paid the penalty for breaking the Law, it authorizes Christ to transfer His purchased righteousness to any individual who agrees to serve Christ. God cannot object, because His law was kept. Satan cannot object, because the law was kept.
An atonement was made by the shedding of the blood of the righteous Christ. God’s sense of justice thus has been appeased. Satan’s willingness to accuse has been thwarted. He cannot accuse someone whom Christ is shielding with His blood.
One new Man! I don’t know as I have ever heard anyone regard the Jewish and Gentile Christians as one new Man.
We sometimes hear of a Jewish Church and a Gentile Church, but not of one new Man.
What about the Jews who have not received Christ but still observe the Law of Moses. Are they part of the one new Man?
No, they are not. They have been broken off the Olive Tree. There is only one Seed of Abraham. The Lord Jesus Christ and those who are part of Him are the one Seed of Abraham. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, only the one new Man.
As I said, after the full number of Gentiles have been grafted on the one Olive Tree, which is Jesus Christ, God will turn again to the physical land and people of Israel. He shall take away their sins at that time. Not just forgive their sins. According to Paul, God shall remove their sinful nature. He actually shall take away their sins!
But in the present hour there is only the one new Man. All the Messianic promises of the Prophets apply to the one new Man. The one new Man inherits the promises made to Abraham.
The one new Man is the true Church. It has not replaced Israel, it is Israel. While the term "Israel" is applied to the physical people and land, true, eternal Israel consists of each person whom God has called to Himself. Every Jewish person is invited to become a part of true Israel, of his promised Christ. There is no other Christ; no other sin-offering; no other seed of Abraham; no other olive tree.
The Jewish person should have no misgivings about coming to his own Christ. Jesus was born and raised in a Jewish household. Christ’s Apostles, the writers of the New Testament, were Jews. It is we Gentiles who have to leave our own background and join ourselves to a salvation that is of the Jews. And this we shall do, because we are unwilling to be denied salvation.
The Gentile preachers who speak of a Gentile Church that is going to go to Heaven while God’s original people, the Jews, are left on the earth to battle the Antichrist, are grossly deluded. They do not understand their own salvation.
As for the Jews who receive Jesus, let them remain with their Jewish background. They have not become Gentiles. They are the brothers of Christ, and should have nothing whatever to do with an unscriptural "rapture of a Gentile Church."
And in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. (Ephesians 2:16)
There is only the one Sin-offering. It is the Son of God, the Christ, slain on the cross. The atonement was made for the Gentile, and he must receive it if he is to be accepted by the Lord.
The same atonement was made for the Jew. He must receive it if he is to be accepted by the Lord.
There is talk even among Gentile Christians about observing the Torah. I think this is a romantic notion more than anything else. It is not possible to observe the Torah at the present time. The Aaronic priesthood and the animal sacrifices are a large part of the Torah. Since there is no temple, there can be no animal sacrifices as an atonement for sin.
So the observant Jew has no way of receiving the blessing of an atonement. No bull is slain. No male or female goat is slain. He is without an atonement for his sins.
But a perfect atonement is available. It was made by the Christ, by the Son of God, on the cross of Calvary. All Jews are welcome to come and have their sins forgiven. All Gentiles are welcome to come and have their sins forgiven. So there is peace between Jew and Gentile, and peace with God. The one new Man has made peace. Unto us a Son has been given, and he shall be called the Prince of Peace.
He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. (Ephesians 2:17,18)
Christ came and preached peace with God to the Gentiles and to the Jews. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.
The Law put God in an adversarial relationship to man. God said "you shall." Man said "I can’t, although I want to."
Jesus Christ came and said, "Come to Me and I will give you rest. I will bring you to the Father through Myself. I am the Way." He Himself is the Reconciliation of God to man and man to God.
Then the Christ ascended to Heaven and poured out His Spirit on the waiting Jews, and then on Cornelius and the Gentiles. Now believing Jews and believing Gentiles have been made one, not only by a common atonement but by sharing the same Holy Spirit.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, (Ephesians 2:19)
We Gentiles were foreigners and aliens. Now we are fellow citizens with the Jews and members of God’s household.
Can you see how inappropriate it is to speak of a Gentile Church? We think the Jew has to leave his cultural inheritance and become a Gentile in order to be a Christian. It is not so. We Gentiles are the foreigners. It is we who have to leave our heathen ways and become part of the holy nation, the royal priesthood.
Some Gentile Christians are feeling a strong drawing to the physical land and people of Israel and want to assist the Jews in any way possible. I can understand this drawing, given that our Bible and our Savior are of the Jews.
I do not think it is a good idea, however, to go back to the Law of Moses and try to observe some of the statutes. The Apostle Paul spoke against this tendencyBeven against circumcision. The observance of any part of the Jewish law will only remove our eyes from Christ. Christ fulfilled the Law in His flesh, and now He wants us to look to Him for every aspect of our daily living. To seek to return to the Law succeeds only in bringing us into bondage.
And don’t forgetBthe Lord Jesus wants to get some fruit for His table from the Arab nations. So we as Christians, while greeting our Jewish brothers warmly, must not be biased against any other nation. They all are part of the inheritance of the Lord Jesus, and also of us.
Once we draw near to God through the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus, we now are members of God’s household.
Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. (Ephesians 2:20)
All of us Christians are being built on the foundation laid by the Jewish Apostles of the new covenant, and the Jewish Prophets of the old covenant. God is building a house, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the Chief Cornerstone.
In the Father’s house there are many rooms, or we could say, many living stones. The whole structure is the eternal Temple of God, the ChristBHead and Body, the royal priesthood.
Isaiah is part of the foundation. So is the Apostle Paul. We are built on all that has gone before.
We are close to the hour when the Capstone, Christ Himself, will descend and complete the structure.
In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. (Ephesians 2:21)
This is the reason we were called out of the world. God desires a living house through which He can communicate with all of His creatures. We have been chosen to be part of the great house of God.
The eternal house of God is ChristBHead and Body. Christ went to the cross, and then ascended to Heaven and cleansed the sanctuary there. He did all this in order that He might prepare a place in God for us, and in us for God.
This is the mystery of the Gospel. It is Christ in us, the hope of the glorious new world of righteousness that will appear as soon as God places the enemies of Christ beneath His feet.
The best is ahead of us. Yet all depends on our willingness to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He brings us into perfect union with the Father through Christ.
As I said previously, it is of the utmost importance that we bring our will into line with God’s will. It is only as we truly receive Jesus as Lord, being willing to serve His slightest wish, that we can partake of the glory that is at hand.
Jesus Christ obeys the Father perfectly. We are to obey Jesus Christ perfectly. If we are to move past the spiritual fulfillment of the feast of Pentecost into the spiritual fulfillment of the last and greatest observance, the feast of Tabernacles, we absolutely must settle the question of whose will we are going to obeyBours or God’s.
Obviously, God cannot dwell in peace in a temple in which some of the stones have a mind and will of their own. God cannot settle down to rest in us until we are delighted to do His will in every aspect of our thinking, speaking, and behaving.
And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22)
This is the whole meaning and purpose of our life. We were chosen from the beginning of the world that we might be a room in the eternal dwelling of God.
God lives in us by His Spirit. If my understanding is correct, this does not mean the Spirit, who is a Person in His own right, is a substitute for Christ or the Father in us. It means the Spirit is the first Person of the Godhead to dwell in us.
As the Spirit dwells in us He prepares us to be the dwelling place of the Father and the Son. They can enter us through the place prepared in us by the Spirit. It is God’s will that we shall mature to the point that all three Members of the GodheadBFather, Son, and Holy SpiritBare able to find perfect rest in our personality.
We have to step off the throne of our personality for a season until it is absolutely clear that we always will do God’s will in every instance. When God is satisfied that our obedience is complete, then we will be able to join the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit on the throne of our personality. This is our ultimate calling, the completion of the work of redemption in us. It is not the conclusion of our growth in the LordBbut only the beginning of our growing into the image of our Father, who has given birth to us through His Word.
Until we learn total obedience, none of this glory is possible for us.
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— (Ephesians 3:1)
Paul was in prison in Rome when writing this letter.
Paul might have found it hard to believe simple letters written while he was in distressing circumstances would change the history of the world; would still be a source of guidance and life to people two thousand years later.
So it is true if we are absolutely faithful in what God gives us to do, even though we may not always be comfortable and happy while doing it, eternal fruit will be borne that will help establish the Kingdom of God.
Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, (Ephesians 3:2)
The term "administration" in the King James Version is translated "dispensation." Perhaps this is where the unscriptural, destructive philosophy of Dispensationalism derived its name. Nowhere in the Bible is there a hint that God moves in dispensations such that His Nature, goals, and ways of dealing with people change. This harmful doctrine effectively cuts off the believers from the needed guidance and understanding found in the Old Testament.
Notice that God’s grace was given to Paul in order to benefit others. May all of us who minister God’s Word have this same attitudeBthat what God has given to us is for the benefit of others. This is why we must never attempt to live as an ordinary person of the world but continually keep in mind that we have been entrusted with Kingdom resources that are to be shared with others.
Woe be to us if we bury our talent and occupy ourselves with the cares of the present world!
That is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. (Ephesians 3:3)
The "administration of God’s grace" that was given to Paul was the mystery concerning Christ. Paul’s insight into the fact that Christ is in us; his understanding of the transition from Moses to Christ; his awareness that Christ will have a Body (a fact not mentioned by anyone else)—these and other truths were given to Paul by revelation.
I believe one of the main roles of an apostle is to be taught doctrine directly by the Lord Jesus Himself. If biblical truth is handed down from human to human it soon accumulates error. There must be someone who hears directly from the Lord if we are to know Christ’s plan for the present.
In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, Which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. (Ephesians 3:4,5)
It appears there do come times in the history of redemption, and of the Kingdom of God, when the Lord brings us a step forward toward the consummation. It certainly was true in the time of the Apostle Paul, as God revealed the meaning of the utterances of the Hebrew Prophets.
I think today is one such time. I believe the Lord Jesus is revealing to us the Father’s plan concerning the building of a living temple for Himself, and concerning the various roles and tasks that will operate in the Kingdom of God.
The things the Lord is showing us have always been in the Bible, but now they are being given fresh meaning. Of particular note is the significance of the final three feasts of the Lord: the blowing of Trumpets; the Day of Atonement; and the feast of Tabernacles.
Another of the new emphases is that the goal of our salvation is not eternal residence in Heaven but change into the image of Christ, and entrance into untroubled rest in the Father through Christ. Certainly this doctrine has always been in the Scriptures, but somehow it was hidden to us. I guess this is so, because we don’t often hear the true goal of salvation preached. People are still talking about "mansions in Heaven."
A further understanding is that concerning the "rest" of GodBthat the rest of God, spoken of in the Book of Hebrews, is rest in the Person and will of God.
Also there is the idea of attaining to the resurrection, which the Apostle Paul cites as his goal. You almost never hear this preached.
So many insights are being given today by the Lord Jesus. They always have been in the Bible. But they sometimes run counter to our most venerable traditions.
The most destructive error of our time is the teaching that grace is a substitute for keeping the commandments of Christ and His Apostles. I am not certain how this error began, but it so clearly is unscriptural that it is remarkable it is subscribed to by intelligent, devout Bible scholars.
It may be true that God is bringing us fresh understanding today so the accumulated traditions may be replaced by the Scriptures.
This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 3:6)
The aspect of the mystery of Christ that Paul is stressing in the immediate text has to do with the fact that the Gentiles are members of the same body as the Jews, and share with them in the Divine inheritance.
We must keep in mind that when the Holy Spirit first was given, He fell on Jewish believers. There must have been a prolonged struggle in Paul’s day as Jews somewhat grudgingly accepted the fact that Gentiles could be saved; could receive the Jewish salvation that was prophesied by Jewish Prophets.
We scarcely are aware of this struggle today. We have come to regard the Christian salvation as being primarily Gentile in character, while the Jew is on the outside.
It was not so in the beginning. It will not be so in the last days. God shall turn again to the physical land and people of Israel. Then we Gentiles will be thankful to be included in what primarily is a Jewish salvation.
I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power. (Ephesians 3:7)
Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus is a remarkable example of the sovereignty of God in the plan of salvation.
Paul did not hear the Gospel and then receive it. As far as we know he was making no effort to find Christ. Yet for some reason his conscience was troubled.
Let’s put it this way: the Lord just reached down and saved Paul. The Lord commanded Paul to be saved. Paul really did not have much of a choice. He was disoriented and blinded.
I think it will be this way after the full number of Gentiles have been grafted on the Olive Tree. I think the Lord will reach down and save the physical land and people of Israel, removing sin from their midst in the process. God has this kind of power, you know.
If this is true, why does he not save everyone in the world?
The reason is, by leaving so much evil in the world God is providing a testing ground for the rulers of the ages to come. God’s rulers are not to be merely righteous. They are to be militantly righteous. That is, they are to be qualified and competent to command others to behave righteously, as well as being righteous themselves. They are destined to serve as priests, rulers, and judges.
The evil in the world is used by the Lord as a training ground. Whoever can gain victory over evil in the present world will be able to govern in the next. But those who do not gain victory over evil in the present world are neither qualified nor competent to return with Jesus Christ and govern the nations. It is just as simple and straightforward as this.
God is finding out today what we would do if we were trusted with greater authority and power.
As far as the people of the world are concerned, each one has a conscience. He can choose to do what is right or choose to do what is wrong. God causes no one to sin. All anyone needs to do to be saved from wrath is to live a decent and honorable life; accept the blood atonement if it is presented to him; accept the fact that Jesus Christ is the Lord whom God has chosen; and be baptized in water. If the Gospel of Christ is never presented to him, then God will judge him in terms of what knowledge of God and righteousness he has had.
The current teaching that if we have never been presented with the Gospel we still shall be condemned for not having received Christ, is abhorrent to any fair-minded person. It is unjust, and God is not unjust. But religion has a way of distorting ordinary reasonable judgment.
Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, (Ephesians 3:8)
I don’t know why Paul would claim to be less than the least of God’s people. Do you or I feel as though we are less than the least of God’s people? I suppose it is a desirable attitude to have. This attitude of humility probably comes from Paul’s remorse over the way he treated Christian people before he was converted.
The Lord pointed out that Paul was kicking against the goads. This suggests Paul was impressed with the godly attitude of Christians when they were arrested. He may have been troubled when he was abusing people who did not fight back against him but turned the other cheek, and was struggling against his conscience because of this.
No doubt the memory of those innocent, godly people meekly submitting when they were persecuted remained with Paul throughout his life, keeping him from viewing himself as a noble individual worthy of praise. Sometimes the Lord allows us to make fools of ourselves so we will understand salvation is of the Lord and not of ourselves.
And to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. (Ephesians 3:9)
Several of the Apostles wrote epistles to the churches. But the letters of Paul have been the backbone of Christian theology. The epistles of John, Peter, and Jude are largely exhortations to godly living. But Paul revealed the major truths of the GospelBtruths misunderstood to the present hour but now being opened to our understanding by the Holy Spirit.
When you think about it, it is remarkable that God would trust to one individual the major elements of the new covenant. But that seems to be the way the Lord works, doesn’t it. We think of the way God used Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Aaron, the Prophets, and John the Baptist. So much depended on one person.
Have you noticed that when we are teaching children we speak of Daniel in the lions’ den, Elijah, David, and John the Baptist? We don’t ordinarily use the millions of Israelites as our example.
This is the way God works. This is why we must never be unduly influenced by the majority of religious people, but must go directly to the Lord and find out what He wants of us as an individual.
When God is ready to move, He looks for an individual. Ordinarily He does not work with large groups of people, or even a committee.
Our tendency, on the other hand, is to assume if a large number of people are not involved, nothing of significance is taking place. We tend to despise the day of small beginnings, as it were.
Another problem we have is believing God could use us as an individual. We have somewhat of a sense of inevitability. God could use someone in the past or future, but not me and not now.
I remember in Bible school it used to be said God is looking for someone who will "go all the way with God." I used to rebel against that idea, believing it is incumbent on all of us to do God’s perfect will.
I still feel that way. Yet I can see that few people seem to lay hold on the great promises of the Scriptures, such as: "He who believes in me, the works that I do he shall do, and greater; because I go to the Father."
The promise is there. Let us cast off the feeling of inevitability and believe God can do greater works through you and me. It certainly won’t hurt to ask!
I do not know if Paul was told, when he was in Paradise, the scope of the fruitfulness that was to be borne through his letters to the churches. Maybe he just plowed along, like the rest of us, doing what was in front of him.
But who could have known at that time what his letter to the saints in Rome would mean to believers for the following two thousand years!
Let us live with our eyes on the Lord. Let us be ready to do whatever He says, without doubting for one minute that His command is possible to carry out, and significant.
I think the Lord told me on one occasion that whoever would obey God completely would make things possible to the Lord that otherwise would not have been possible. Isn’t that a mighty thought? Let’s obey God perfectly and see what happens.
His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, (Ephesians 3:10)
The above is an unusual verse. It is saying, as far as I can see, that God speaks to various highly placed spiritual personages through what He does with the Christians.
I don’t know how far we can carry this concept. My thought is that God became somewhat disgusted with the rebellion of the angels. Eliphaz mentioned that God charges His angels with error. What God may be doing is showing the great spiritual lords that He can bring forth conquering spirits from the dust of the ground.
I have had the feeling God did not address the rebellion immediately other than to cast the rebels from the highest Heaven. I believe all that has transpired on the earth from the time of Adam and Eve has been one long explanation to the angels regarding God’s attitude toward them, and toward the rebellion in particular.
It may be true that the Ten Commandments were written for Satan’s benefit so he would understand what God demands.
I may be mistaken but I believe the revelation of God’s will comes first through the elect on earth, and from here is made known to the creatures in the heavens. "Give ear, O heavens"!
I know God is judging His elect at this time, both the living and the dead. We all are coming to perfection together.
We really do not understand the relationship between people who are alive on the earth and those who are deceased. We have an extensive mythology based on "mansions," but I do not believe it portrays what actually is true.
I think the heavenly scribes listen to what is coming forth through God’s people on the earth and are taking notes.
We may suppose those who have died will have their doctrine corrected. I doubt this. My guess would be that people who believed and taught a pre-tribulation "rapture" still hold to that after they die. They wouldn’t believe a teacher on the earth who told them their doctrine is unscriptural. Why would they believe someone after they die?
So we have a lot to learn, and I would not be surprised if we will learn it while alive on the earth. Whether we will find out more merely by dying is not clear to me.
In any case, it seems the history of the earth is one great audio-visual lesson being presented for the benefit of the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.
According to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ephesians 3:11)
God has a purpose. We have been called according to God’s purpose, Paul says. This fact brings me peace of mind.
When I was in Bible school, many years ago, I gained the impression that God was waiting for us to go out and save the world. Right while we were in the Bible school, souls were sliding into Hell and no one was doing anything about it. It made me feel nervous and guilty.
I became so distressed over this thought I went to the Lord. I said, "I am not going to live like this. I will do anything or go anywhere you want. Just give me the grace to do your will. From now on it is up to you to save the souls from Hell."
This is what I said and this is what I meant. And I still mean it.
After a while I came to the conclusion that God knows exactly what He is doing. He has a purpose. He has not left it up to us to charge out and save as many people as we can. He is in control. His ways are restful and peaceful. When we are living so we can hear His voice, He gives us some small task. This we are able to perform joyfully. There is none of this guilt about why we are not out saving souls.
Those who wish to carry this burden are free to do so. As for me, I am content that God knows exactly what He wants and has the power to do it.
God commanded us to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send forth laborers. God commanded us to pray for the Holy Spirit that we might be able to help others. We are to pray as He has commanded, and this is not grievous. His commandments are not grievous. His yoke is easy and His burden light.
But the great Babylon, man-directed religion, would have us grinding at the mill, never having the confidence of knowing that God is completely pleased with us.
God always accomplishes His eternal purpose. He raises up people to work with Him. It is a case of the mouse working alongside of the elephant. When the mouse attempts to haul logs without the elephant, the mouse is strained beyond endurance and not much is accomplished.
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence. (Ephesians 3:12)
We Gentiles do not appreciate the ready access to God that we have. If you are acquainted with the Tabernacle of the Congregation you realize the distinct levels of holiness of the priesthood and of the Tabernacle structure. Only the High Priest, and he only once a year, was permitted to approach God and sprinkle the atoning blood upon and in front of the Lid of Atonement.
But through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we can come to God any moment of the day and night, seeking wisdom and strength to meet the temptations and problems through which we continually are passing.
God is delighted every time we come before Him with freedom and confidence. God has been working toward this endBthat His creatures might be able to come to Him. He has begun the program of reconciliation with the members of the royal priesthood. Eventually every saved person living on the earth will be able to approach God confidently.
I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory. (Ephesians 3:13)
When we read the Book of Second Corinthians we become aware of the hardships that Paul endured. He experienced numerous tribulations and rejections. In addition he was suffering from an affliction, probably a disease of his eyes. Paul always was being brought down to death in order that the resurrection power of Christ might lift him up. Then the overflow of power brought life to others.
There is much talk among American Christians about power with God. I think we picture ourselves in air-conditioned comfort stretching forth our hand, working miracles of healing, while multitudes are slain under the power of the Holy Spirit.
However, resurrection life proceeds from crucifixion. I do believe God wants to express His power in our midst as never before. But in order for this to happen, some of us must be willing to accept the death of the cross in our lives.
If others are to live, then we must set aside our own life that Christ may live in us.
So Paul asks us not to be discouraged because of his sufferings on our behalf. Paul wants us to rejoice and glorify God, understanding that He who brought Paul low and then raised him up did so for our benefit, and will raise us up also.
For this reason I kneel before the Father, From whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. (Ephesians 3:14,15)
If my understanding is correct, God’s family consists of His elect, His Israel, whether Jewish or Gentile by physical birth. One day His name will be written on us. We belong to God in a way not true of the rest of the people of the earth.
The people of the earth who are not members of the royal priesthood also are God’s children. He loves them and will save each one of them who is willing to acknowledge that Jesus is the only One who can save us from our sins; and that He is our rightful Lord, having been appointed by the Father
But God’s elect, the members of the royal priesthood, are called by God’s name. We are a people peculiarly God’s own.
Paul is ready to pray for us. Let’s see how he will pray. Is it the same prayer that we would pray for Christian people?
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, May have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, And to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)
First of all, Paul is appealing to the "glorious riches" of God. I think sometimes we gain the impression that God is limited by our limitations as to what He can accomplish in and through us. He is not limited by what we can or can’t do, only by our faith and obedience. Who knows what God will do in and through someone who believes in the glorious riches of God and is totally obedient?
God is not demanding that we dredge up some goodness out of ourselves. He is more than willing to bless us with all spiritual blessings from His glorious riches. Therefore, nothing is impossible as far as our spiritual growth is concerned.
Second, Paul is praying that we may be strengthened with power in our inner being. The saints in Ephesus to whom Paul is writing had been saved and filled with the Spirit, as we use those terms. Now Paul is praying that they will be strengthened in their inner being. Strengthened for what purpose?
Third, strengthened so Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. I don’t think it is preached very often that we need more of Christ after we have been saved and filled with the Spirit. But we do. During his entire life as a Christian, Paul was seeking to gain Christ.
Being saved and filled with the Spirit is just the beginning of our redemption. There is a whole program of gaining Christ that needs to be pursued. God is making us aware of this at the present time.
Fourth, We being rooted and grounded in love. We speak much in America about love, but we usually are thinking of our human love. God’s Divine love, which is the greatest of all forces, grows in us as Christ grows in us. Divine love enables us to rise above those who slander or irritate us, and view them with detachment if not compassion.
It is not that we become foolish or maudlin. It is that immature people, and all manner of fears and irritations, are below us because we have a peace that the world cannot injure. We become more like our Father in Heaven, ignoring the riffles and eddies of life, and doing good as we have opportunity. We need prayer for this level of maturity, don’t we?
Fifth, may have power. Righteousness is an issue of power. The more power we have, the more righteously we are able to behave. If God gives us enough power we can overcome all the deceptions of the enemy. If we prove victorious in the battle today, the hour will come when we have enough power to compel righteousness among the nations of the earth.
Sixth, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. The love of Christ is a force that can grow within us until all spiritual darkness has been dispelled.
It is love that surpasses knowledge. It is love that compared with human love is like the ocean compared with a teardrop.
Seventh, that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. First we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Then, if we cooperate with the Spirit, keeping the Word of Christ, the Father and Son will come and make Their eternal abode with us.
The Lord Jesus Christ is filled with the Father and the Holy Spirit. They dwell in Him without measure. Also, the Father has made Him the Christ and Lord of all.
Here we find the Apostle Paul stating we are to be "filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." How can dust be filled with the fullness of God? If it were not in the inerrant Scripture I would not believe such a thing.
However, I do not intend to stagger at the promise of God. If the Word says we can be filled with all the fullness of God (think of it!) then that is exactly what I want.
If we have been called to be a "saint," then our role in existence is to be a room in the Father’s House.
Philosophers have questioned who man is; how his identity is established. The Bible asks: "What is man that You are mindful of him." Probably the most important question there is.
Well, when we are one of God’s elect, we are the House of God. That is our role in eternity.
Once we grasp the fact that we are a room in the eternal House of God, then we ought to live according to that fact. This means we ask God about everything we do. Asking God about everything we do, and obeying God, is called "the rest of God."
From the beginning of the world, God has planned the life of each one of the members of the royal priesthood. The sooner we realize this and look to the Lord for what we are supposed to do, the more fruitful our life will be and the greater our reward when the Lord comes.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20,21)
Now to Him, referring to God the Father. The Father is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine, according to His power that is working in us. We can ask and we can imagine the fullness of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit living in us for eternity. According to the inerrant Word, the Father is able to do "immeasurably more" than that. Do you believe this? I do! God can and will do more than I can imagine. This I fully believe.
To the Father be glory in the Church; to the Father be glory in Christ Jesus—and this to all generations for eternity.
The idea of each one of us being a room in the great House of the Father may be the central emphasis of the Scriptures. God did not express this in the beginning when He created Adam and Eve. But there are glimpses of God’s thoughts in the Prophets.
This is what the LORD says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? (Isaiah 66:1)
Stephen said the same thing at the time of his martyrdom.
I think as we approach the closing of the Church Age the idea of God making His resting place in His elect is going to be emphasized by the Holy Spirit. This means we must follow the Spirit as He directs us to confess and turn away from our sins; as He helps us come out of the present world system that we may follow Christ; and especially as He impresses us to obey God instantly and accurately in every situation throughout the day and night.
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. (Ephesians 4:1)
We understand Paul was in prison in Rome when he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.
"A life worthy of the calling you have received." You know, there is not nearly enough being said today about living a life worthy of our calling as members of the royal priesthood. There is far too much emphasis on our being saved by the worthiness of Jesus Christ. Actually there is no doubt about the worthiness of Christ. But there may be doubt about our being worthy of Christ and of the Kingdom of God.
In the Old Testament, God said He required of people that they act righteously, that they love mercy, and that they walk humbly with God. God still requires such behavior.
We have been forgiven through the blood atonement. Granted. But we still have to act righteously, love mercy, and walk humbly with God if we are to please God.
We have been baptized in water. We still have to act righteously, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.
We have been filled with God’s Spirit. We still have to act righteously, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.
The blood of atonement is not an alternative to God’s requirement.
Water baptism is not an alternative to God’s requirement.
Being filled with the Spirit is not an alternative to God’s requirement.
Speaking in tongues and prophesying are not an alternative to God’s requirement.
No amount of church attendance, giving, or ministry is an alternative to God’s requirement.
If we do not act righteously, love mercy, and walk humbly with God, we are going to hear: "Depart from Me, I never knew you" no matter what miracles we performed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is much wickedness today both in the ministry and in the rest of the believers. People are convinced that their religion is a substitute for godly behavior. They are going to suffer intense fires in the days to come.
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:2)
There are many such statements in the Bible. You wouldn’t think so to listen to much of the preaching. Too often the people are being "fed" grace-rapture-Heaven. If it is not that, it is "go out into the highways and along the hedges and force them to come in." If it is not that, it is an emphasis on prosperity or some other fanciful novelty. How many preachers are emphasizing godly behavior?
Be humble. Be gentle. Be patient. Bear with one another in love. God insists on these, and all the grace in the world cannot serve as an alternative.
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3)
Every pastor knows how readily and rapidly roots of bitterness and dissension can spring up and cause problems in a congregation. We have to watch diligently, making every effort to prevent these. Continual prayer is needed if the church is to remain in love, peace, and joy.
Satan always is looking for someone who will listen to his accusations so division can be introduced into the assembly. When this happens, the fruitfulness and testimony of the church is impaired.
There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—One Lord, one faith, one baptism; One God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)
I think the stress on one Church, one Body, relates back to the "one new man" of Chapter Two, as well as to the one eternal Temple of God. The emphasis was needed at that time because of the difficulty of reconciling the Jews to the idea of Gentiles being a partaker of the Divine salvation.
I suppose it is difficult for any of us to believe there is only one true Church, the Body of Christ, the Wife of the Lamb. Once we become part of Christ there no longer is Jewish or Gentile identity. And there is no other religious group that is favored of God, except that the physical land and people of Israel are part of God’s plan for the future.
We know from Jesus’ prayer in the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel of John that the members of His Church are to be one with each other, and one with Christ in God, just as Christ and the Father are One. This is a total oneness that is accomplished as each of us learns to live by eating the flesh of Christ and drinking His blood. It is a oneness of Substance and Spirit.
So we see there is the great Babylon, which is man-made, man-activated religion, including the Christian religion, and then there are the members of the one Body. I expect there are members of the one Body in most churches that call themselves Christian. But there may be only one or two in a given assembly.
For example: the only true Christians are those who deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Jesus each day. How many of those do you know? Do you see what I mean?
Then too, the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation divide the church members into those who overcome and those who do not.
So it appears there is a Church within the churches. In the last days, Babylon will become a home of unclean spirits. Then the true members of the Bride of the Lamb will have to come out of the babylonish institutions. I don’t believe time is here yet, although some believe it is.
As far as religious institutions becoming a haunt for every unclean spirit, we see this in the Pharisees who cried for the blood of the innocent Jesus. We see this in the murder of so many thousands of innocent believers by the Catholic Church. Satan loves to inhabit Christian organizations and fill them with self-seeking leaders who don’t know the Lord. That is why there are so many different denominations, each seeking their own advancement.
I myself look forward to the day when there are only genuine disciples, true Christians, living by the body and blood of the Lord, all of one mind in the Lord. How does that sound to you?
But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. (Ephesians 4:7)
Every member of the Body of Christ has been given grace. By the way, notice the use of the term "grace." Today the word is defined as "forgiveness." This is not a complete definition. "Grace" is used in several different ways in the New Testament. "Grace" is used in the above verse to mean the ability to contribute to the building up of the Body of Christ. Each one of us has something to give, and we need to present our body as a living sacrifice to God in order to determine what our contribution is to be.
Once we know the particular form of the grace that has been given to us, whether teaching, or showing mercy, or healing the sick, we are to serve God in this manner, being very diligent in the use of our gift.
Our individual grace is our talent. If we use it well, we will receive more grace to use in building up the Body of Christ.
If we do not use it well, giving our time and attention to many other things, our grace will be removed from us, given to another, and we shall be thrown into the outer darkness.
This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) (Ephesians 4:8-10)
We know there are places beneath the surface of the earth where spirits are confined. There are some who teach that when Christ ascended He brought the righteous dead from beneath the earth’s surface up to Heaven. This is why we see Samuel being called up from the ground by the witch of Endor, whereas the same was not true of Abraham, apparently. When the selfish rich man called out to Abraham from Hell he looked up. Also, Moses and Elijah were with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration.
I see no reason to question this teaching.
"He gave gifts to men" is taken from Psalms 68. When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men, even from the rebellious—that you, O LORD God, might dwell there. (Psalms 68:18)
Following the thought in Ephesians, the Psalm probably should read: "you received gifts for men, even the rebellious—that you might dwell there." Or the thought may be that the Father gave gifted people to Christ for the purpose of creating a resting place for the Father and the Son.
The reference is to Mount Zion. The ascended Christ gave gifts to the believers, even to the rebellious; or Christ received gifts consisting of the believers, even the rebellious, that God might dwell in Zion, that is, in the Body of Christ.
So we see the one new Man serving as the place where God is to dwell.
It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, (Ephesians 4:11)
The apostle is sent from Christ with a mission. The apostle establishes doctrine. He or she also starts churches. He comes from Christ with a fresh word so tradition from mouth to mouth does not accumulate error, as gossip does when information goes from person to person.
The doctrine of the "pre-tribulation rapture" is erroneous. No apostle coming from Jesus Christ would have anything to do with such an unscriptural teaching. The unscriptural "pre-tribulation rapture" is one part of a tradition that is an accumulation of errors. This is why apostles are needed in every generation. They hear from Christ and speak to God’s people.
As Paul pointed out, an apostle is a servant of Christ and of the churches. He is not some great personage whom people are to regard with awe. I think this viewpoint often is held; but an apostle is nothing more than a believer who has been entrusted with Divine grace in order to lay a foundation of truth on which other servants of Christ may build.
The prophet speaks the present burden of the Spirit and confirms the teaching of the Apostle.
The evangelist proclaims the good news of the soon coming to the earth of Christ and His Kingdom.
From my point of view, the pastor-teacher is one ministry. This is how it works out in practice, it seems to me. The pastor patiently instructs God’s people and feeds them, after they have been brought to Christ by the apostle and evangelist.
I envision four ministries, not five. Perhaps the four ministries are symbolized by the four bars that held in a straight line the upright boards of the Tabernacle. In this case, the fifth bar, running from end to end, would be Jesus Christ.
Another thought is this: nowhere else are these four ministries held to be different from the other gifts and graces given to the believers. So I am not one of these who makes a big point of trying to figure out who is an apostle; who is a prophet; who is a teacher. I say find your ministry and perform it, and others may or may not give it a name. It simply does not matter.
We will know when there is an apostle among us by the mighty signs and wonders that follow his ministry. Until then we can call one another "brother" or "sister."
To prepare God’s people for works of service, so the body of Christ may be built up (Ephesians 4:12)
I have heard it taught that the meaning of the above verse is that the four ministries prepare God’s people so they can go out and evangelize. I see nothing in the context that indicates this is the meaning. I do not notice in the Book of Acts that the purpose of the apostle or evangelist is to prepare the believers so they can "win others to Christ."
My personal opinion is that the common emphasis, at least in Evangelical churches, is that it is the duty of every believer to go out and "win others to Christ." I do not know the source of this unscriptural emphasis. But I rather suspect it is of Babylon—the pressure for more and more people in the organization.
I do not view this pressure as a positive force in the Kingdom of God. I think it comes from the adamic mind, not from the Spirit of God.
It can be noticed that religious organizations keep a careful count of their converts. Perhaps this is necessary for governmental purposes. But it certainly is not scriptural. It was Satan who provoked David to number the people, as I remember.
I have heard ever since I came to Christ that I was supposed to go out and save others. I was uncomfortable with that idea then, and I am still uncomfortable with it. If anything, this emphasis prevents people from finding out what their role actually is.
I believe we would be more in line with the Scripture if we encouraged people to find out what their role is, what particular grace they have been given, rather than to saddle them with the idea that they are supposed to go our and "win others to Christ." I know some have this ministry, but I see no scriptural basis for insisting that everyone has the ministry of personal evangelism.
It is absolutely true that every member of the Body of Christ is a witness of God, a representative of Jesus Christ. But in most instances he or she does not bear witness by preaching the Gospel, but by living as the Gospel commands. It is our good works that are our light. It is our righteous, godly behavior that causes people to glorify God.
What then does the following verse mean?
To prepare God’s people for works of service, so the body of Christ may be built up (Ephesians 4:12)
It means God gave to certain believers the gift of being an apostle, or a prophet, or an evangelist, or a pastor-teacher, so the one receiving the gift can be prepared to serve the Body of Christ, that it may be built up.
The above interpretation is in line with the context. I can’t see that the other interpretation has anything to do with the context or with the way the ministries operated in the Book of Acts.
In any case, the end product of the ascension gifts is as follows:
Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:13)
There is not a hint here that the purpose of the ministries is to add numbers of believers to the churches. The purpose clearly is to build up each believer to maturity in Christ.
Today we stress numbers of people as the index of ministerial success, as the fruit we are to bear. However, the New Testament stresses spiritual maturity as the index of ministerial success, and the fruit is seen to be love, joy, and peace, not numbers of people.
In fact, the end product as outlined here is so far removed from the present state of the churches as to be unbelievable.
Unity in the faith does not mean we all believe the same doctrine. It is not unity in doctrine but in the faith. Unity in the faith means each of us is living by looking to the Lord Jesus continually rather than by trusting in our own wisdom and strength. This is how the righteous are to live.
Doctrinal unity is an exercise for theologians, not for members of the one Body of Christ.
The knowledge of the Son of God is speaking of the knowledge of Christ that Paul was seeking until the end of his days: it is the personal knowledge of Christ; the inner growth of Christ until we are filled with all the fullness of God; it is attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Such maturity cannot be attained, it appears to me, until more of the ministries and gifts of the Spirit are operating than is true today. How God is going to move us from the pastor-congregation model to a full operation of the members of the Body, I do not know. But I don’t think we can just go out and do it. God has to teach and empower us if we are going to be successful in having the full operation of the members of the Body of Christ.
"The whole measure of the fullness of Christ"! Can you imagine what it will be like when each of us reaches such a level of spiritual maturity!
Since the Bible speaks of this standard of maturity, stating Christ has given various gifts and ministries until we all reach this high level; knowing that very, very few Christians are even approaching the maturity mentioned here, what conclusion can we draw? Beyond all doubt, the Scripture shall be fulfilled precisely as written!
My conclusion from this is that the ministries will continue to operate after our death. Or else there are going to be very few members of the Body of Christ.
And why not? Will we cease growing after we die? I certainly hope not. I envision our growing in Christ—perhaps for eternity. And it may be true that the ministries and gifts of the Spirit will continue to serve in the next world, at least for a season.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. (Ephesians 4:14)
"The cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming." Paul in another place refers to those whose god is their belly.
Is it true today that there are ministers of the Gospel who take advantage of the lack of wisdom of the believers? I am afraid so. I know from experience that pastors and evangelists will stoop to all kinds of skullduggery to draw people after themselves.
For example: they will plant people in a meeting to stand up and say they will give a thousand dollars. The purpose is to encourage others to give a large offering. This is just one example of the devices that are used to collect a great deal of money. Perhaps the overemphasis on grace has caused such scoundrels to believe Christ is overlooking their lack of integrity because they are doing Christian work. But He is not, and they shall find that out when He confronts them with their deviousness.
Such wolves will preach anything that will attract people and cause them to give their money. They will sell anointed neckties that are guaranteed to heal every disease. They may purchase five thousand ties at five dollars each and sell them for a hundred dollars each. Then they will say they have prayed earnestly over each tie. The truth is, they have hidden the profit from their income tax report and have laughed about the gullible believers who have purchased the cheap tie, thinking they would be healed.